EDITORIAL - Release the greyhounds

If Police Major Alejandro Batobalonos, head of the Integrity Monitoring and Enhancement Group Visayas Field Unit, is to be believed he received death threats from a drug lord who is currently in jail.

It was before the office of Batobalonos that drug suspect Ritchie Nepomuceno earlier lodged a complaint against 13 policemen of the Sawang Calero Police Station in Cebu City for alleged torture and rape.

Nepomuceno would later be shot dead. By whom isn’t exactly known yet. There are speculations she was shot dead by one of the policemen she accused, who later committed suicide that same day. Then there is that love triangle theory, that she had another paramour aside from her lover who just happens to be that jailed drug lord.

The case is still under investigation.

“Gitawagan ko...nagduda lang ko nga gikan sa city jail kay saba g’yud. Giingnan ko niya nga bawos-bawos lang ta sir, ha…pero wa ko kahibaw og naa ba g’yud siya sud…ang ako lang kay saba g’yud kaayo sa sud,” Batobalonos told reporters.

That’s not all. Aside from having a cellphone, Batobalonos says it seems the man also has access to the internet because has been commenting on social media regarding a news article about him, and also allegedly uploaded a video of himself showing off some weapons and explosives.

People are deprived of certain liberties when they are jailed. And while inmates can be allowed access to the internet, it should always be under the supervision of jail authorities.

However, again if this claim is true, it seems that some detainees are still allowed some leeway when it comes to having a cellphone and having access to the internet. Or get away with it under the noses of jail authorities.

This is something city authorities should look into. Perhaps it is time for authorities to look at what is happening in our jails again. The way they used to do before the pandemic hit, with sweeping operations for drugs, weapons, and other contraband like communication devices they are not allowed to have under their circumstances.

They even had a fancy codename for such operations; Operation Greyhound, perhaps after the dog that is used to seek prey animals.

We bring this up not with adding to the difficulty and suffering of the lives of inmates in mind, but to prevent some of them from not just threatening others but also from continuing their criminal enterprise even as they are removed from the rest of society.